Gottheimer, Van Drew Call on House to Pass Bipartisan Bicameral Bill to Financially Support Families in Critical First Year Following Births, Adoptions — to Support Leave, Expenses Without Raising Taxes

WASHINGTON – Today, Thursday, December 12, 2019, U.S. Congressmen Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2) called on House leadership to put the recently introduced bipartisan bicameral Advancing Support for Working Families Act on the House floor for a vote. The Gottheimer-Van Drew backed bipartisan bill provides financial resources to help new parents pay for leave and cover the cost of child care, infant care supplies and other expenses associated with a new child.

“There are other pieces of legislation out there that have the same goal in mind of helping new parents, but they’re partisan and they’ll raise taxes hand over fist, which helps no one and ensures they’ll never be signed into law,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “Our bill, which actually does have a chance of becoming law, is exactly what bipartisanship should be all about: coming together to actually solve a real problem and make sure we’re helping families, especially in northern New Jersey. We’re helping new parents without raising taxes, making it an excellent win for everybody. New Jersey families already have taxes that are far too high, and we need to reduce their burden. It’s vitally important that we make sure our families can do everything they can to be with their children.” 

“Hundreds of thousands of Jersey families benefit from the Child Tax Credit every year and this proposal would help these folks, especially those who are young parents and not earning as much in their early careers,” said Congressman Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2). “The Advancing Support for Working Families Act accomplishes the goal of helping families with the cost of having a child without raising taxes like other proposed legislation would. The bill empowers parents, provides families a dose of economic freedom if they choose this option and does not dictate how the funds must be used.”

The Advancing Support for Working Families Act will allow families the option to advance up to $5,000 of their Child Tax Credit in the first year of a child’s life or the first year in which a family adopts a child. Families can also choose to advance their Child Tax Credit, giving families greater flexibility to take time off from work and afford child care and other expenses.

Currently, parents are only able to receive a tax credit of $2,000 per child annually, even though conservative estimates show the average middle-income family will spend nearly $13,000 on child-related expenses in a child’s first years of life.

This proposal gives new families more options and support so they do not have to choose between taking on high-interest debt or forgoing time with their newborn in a way that doesn’t raise taxes, endanger Social Security, or create new employer mandates.

In the House, the original cosponsors of this bipartisan House bill also  include Reps. Colin Allred (TX-32), Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Joe Cunningham (SC-1), and Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2), Jamie Herrera Beutler (WA-3), Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16), and Bryan Steil (WI-1). In the Senate, the bipartisan bill is being introduced by Senators Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (LA), Steve Daines (MT), Shelley Capito (WV), and Joe Manchin (WV).

View the bill section by section HERE.

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